Men's Basketball | 11/24/2016 3:21:00 PM

Georgia Southern (1-3) vs. Florida A&M (2-3)
Friday, Nov. 25 - Savannah Civic Center (7,200) – Savannah, Ga. - 2:30 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats
Georgia Southern vs. Radford (1-3)
Saturday, Nov. 26 - Savannah Civic Center – Savannah, Ga. - 2:30 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats
Savannah Invitational
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup), 100.9 WLYU (Lyons)
Probable Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#11 Shawn O'Connell

Georgia Southern Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [Game Notes]

Florida A&M Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Radford Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern plays its final two games of the Savannah Invitational in the Savannah Civic Center Friday and Saturday. Tipoff for both games is slated for 2:30 p.m.
• Friday's game against Florida A&M will be the Eagles' first in the Savannah Civic Center since Nov. 21, 2001, when the Eagles fell 94-73 to Georgia.
• The game against FAMU will be the first contest between the teams since 1999. The Eagles won that one 95-63 on the road and are 2-1 all-time against FAMU.
• Georgia Southern plays Radford Saturday in the first meeting between the schools since 1985, a 48-42 Eagle win. GS leads the series against the Highlanders 2-0.
• The contests are part of the Savannah Invitational, an in-season tournament in which each participant plays four games - two at campus sites and two in Savannah. This is the first year of the tournament, and organizers hope to make it an annual event.
• Georgia Southern played at the on-campus site of Mercer last Sunday (L, 80-67) and Akron Tuesday (L, 75-67).
• Mercer, Akron, Stetson, East Carolina, Radford, Florida A&M and Air Force all will finish the tournament by playing two games in the Savannah Civic Center Nov. 25-26.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. Three of those games are in Savannah (two in Savannah Invite and at Savannah State Dec. 1).   
• Georgia Southern returns all five starters from last season's 14-17 squad that finished fifth in the Sun Belt with a 10-10 record.
• The Eagles were picked fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, and Tookie Brown and Mike Hughes were named preseason all-conference.
• Georgia Southern is coming off a 75-67 loss at Akron Tuesday in its second game of the Savannah Invitational. It was the Zips' 20th straight home win.
• Florida A&M has lost its last two at Air Force (87-62) and East Carolina (82-62), its first two games of the tournament. 
• The Rattlers were picked last in the MEAC.
• Radford has lost its first two games of the tournament to the same teams as Georgia Southern. The Highlanders fell 88-41 at Akron Sunday and 58-47 at Mercer Tuesday.
• Radford was picked sixth in the 10-team Big South, and Ed Polite Jr. was named second-team Preseason All-Big South.

Three Things to Know about the Eagles
1 -  Georgia Southern returns all five starters and 11 lettermen. Ninety-four percent of the Eagles' scoring and rebounding is back in uniform, and Georgia Southern is still young. Walk-ons James Holder and Dominique Bullock are the team's lone seniors.
2 -  Georgia Southern was picked fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, Tookie Brown was named preseason first-team all-league and Mike Hughes earned second-team honors.
3 - Last year, Georgia Southern set new school records with 3-pointers made (282) and attempted (834) in a season. 
• The Eagles made 10 or more triples in a contest 13 times, hitting nine from long distance on four more occasions. GS made 10 at Mercer (11/20) and nine against Coastal Georgia (11/14).
• Georgia Southern averaged 26.9 (28th nationally) attempts and 9.1 makes (27th nationally) a game. 
• Three Eagles were in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made per game - Mike Hughes (4th, 2.2), Jake Allsmiller (6th, 2.1) and Tookie Brown (14th, 1.6).

More Team Storylines
• The Eagles picked up the 1,200th win in the history of the program, which began play in 1926-27, when they topped Coastal Georgia 92-43 Nov. 14.
• GS held Coastal Georgia to 23.1 percent shooting from the field, the lowest for an opponent since holding North Georgia to 22.7 percent in 2003.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. The stretch ends Dec. 20 at Winthrop. GS does play three contests in Savannah (55 miles East) during that time.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 112th career game today and his 101st at Georgia Southern. His 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern are the best of any coach in the modern era.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 37-6 in games when leading at half and 45-3 when leading with five minutes to go, but two of those losses in each category have some this season.
• Georgia Southern led the Sun Belt and ranked 11th in the country in turnover margin (+3.4) last season. The Eagles recorded less than 10 turnovers in 10 games and averaged 11.6 per game. GS had seven turnovers at NC State, eight against Coastal Georgia and 10 at Mercer and own a +3.5 turnover margin this season.
•  GS scored 75.9 points a game last season, the Eagles' best offensive output since averaging 77.5 points a game in 2005-06. GS scored 80-plus points in 10 games and 100-plus in three contests. The Eagles are averaging 76.2 this year and scored over 80 once.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 19 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 12-7.
• Georgia Southern is 23-6 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 29 contests there and 31-12 under Mark Byington.
• Georgia Southern used 11 different combinations of starting lineups last year. GS has used three this season.
• The Eagles are 17-1 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.